April was an exact copy as last month, in terms of reading. I read 4 books and DNF yet another book. At the beginning of the month, I felt like I was in a reading slump. However, I kind of force myself to read but not in a bad way I’m just robotically following my night routine which involves me reading for half an hour to an hour every night. haha
It’s not that I do not enjoy what I was reading, I rated two books 4 stars and even rated a book 5 stars! It’s just that I’ve just been feeling unsatisfied with my reading and want to read something amazing or maybe it’s just a sign that I’ve been reading too much? I don’t know. It’s a strange feeling to describe. This probably explains why I’ve been reading less books too.
Anyways, Make sure to follow me on Goodreads to be updated on what I’m reading and on StoryGraph if you’re curious about my book statistics.
My star reading scale
★★★★★/5 – Loved it! Would reread and recommend it to others.
★★★★/5 – Kept me entertained. I would reread.
★★★/5 – Didn’t love or hate but would recommend to others.
★★/5 – Did not enjoy it and probably skimmed through most of it.
★/5 – I hated it and regret wasting my time with this book.
DNF – Did not finish. This will probably be rare because I like to finish every book I start.
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Kodomo Doki Doki: Book One: Touch Reminiscence by Renaya Moore ★★★/5
Because they were born as Florals (persons with flowers growing from the skin), a group of friends ages eight through seventeen are sent away from their familiar orphanage to a decrepit island, on which they are expected to live as if the entirety of it is an ordinary home of wall and ceiling.
The Island isn’t the only decrepit thing though, as the group’s friendship is crumbling in the wake of a breaking promise meant to hold back their darkest fears and a secret trauma, kept only between two- but before they can even begin to focus on the fixing of their friendship, strange things occur on the island, and they are witness to things they aren’t sure they should believe in, until they must ask themselves if they can fix their breaking promise because, without it, the flowered hearts are at risk of breaking next.
I wrote a whole review on this book which you can read here. I pretty much spilled all my thoughts on there so go give it a read if you haven’t. By the way, the author decided to move back the release date because she wanted to make a few changes, including a new cover which is absolutely adorable!
You can preorder Kodomo Doki Doki Book One: Touch Reminiscence here
McGlue: A Novella by Ottessa Moshfegh DNF/5
Salem, Massachusetts, 1851: McGlue is in the hold, still too drunk to be sure of name or situation or orientation—he may have killed a man. That man may have been his best friend. Intolerable memory accompanies sobriety. A-sail on the high seas of literary tradition, Ottessa Moshfegh gives us a nasty heartless blackguard on a knife-sharp voyage through the fogs of recollection.
What is this? My third DNF of the year? So far, I’ve read two books by Ottessa Moshfegh which I enjoy but McGlue just didn’t do it for me. I was listening to the audiobook of this book but they used the F-word (the one used as an insult to a certain group of people) so much that I decided to stop listening to the book. I’m very curious, if you see certain offensive terms or words in books how do you feel about them?
You can purchase McGlue here
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami ★★★★/5
Tsukiko is drinking alone in her local sake bar when by chance she meets one of her old high school teachers and, unable to remember his name, she falls back into her old habit of calling him ‘Sensei’. After this first encounter, Tsukiko and Sensei continue to meet. Together, they share edamame beans, bottles of cold beer, and a trip to the mountains to eat wild mushrooms. As their friendship deepens, Tsukiko comes to realise that the solace she has found with Sensei might be something more.
I’m not sure what to say about this book. It was a quick and easy read, the story was interesting but there were times when I felt like I was waiting for something big to happen but overall I enjoyed Strange Weather in Tokyo it was odd but heartwarming.
You can purchase Strange Weather in Tokyo here
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson ★★★★/5
Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate.
It’s a very gothic novel about a family who live in a house where a few years before some of the family members were mystery murdered and the town folks believe that one of the two sisters murdered the family members. I thoroughly enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It was an intriguing story with a slow start but a shocking reveal, I deducted one star because there were some boring parts but I mainly adore this book. This novel was written Shirley Jackson who also wrote The Haunting of Hill House which is a book that I want to read soon because I loved the show!
You can purchase We Have Always Lived in the Castle here
True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart by Thich That Hanh ★★★★★/5
In this eye-opening guide, Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh offers timeless insight into the nature of real love. With simplicity, warmth, and directness, he explores the four key aspects of love as described in the Buddhist tradition: lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and freedom—explaining how to experience them in our day-to-day lives. He also emphasizes that in order to love in a real way, we must first learn how to be fully present in our lives, and he offers simple techniques from the Buddhist tradition that anyone can use to establish the conditions of love.
I loved this short yet insightful read! As someone who meditates daily, I love hearing about meditation and how you can improve it. In, True Love, Thich That Hanh starts by discussing how to express love to your loved ones but then shifts focus to how you can add mindfulness into you every day in a meditative way. I especially loved the phone meditation, as someone with massive phone anxiety I’m going to try that next time I have to give or receive a stressful phone call!
You can purchase True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart here
Have you read any of these books? What did you read in April?
I’ve heard similar mixed reviews about Ottessa Moshfegh’s work, so I’m sure you’re not alone.
Maybe you should try out a few different genres and see where your reader tastes are evolving and developing? I hope this isn’t out of line to say, but it seems like you’ve picked up lots of novellas and perhaps you need a big ol’ solid read to get you back in the swing of things! I recently read Severance by Ling Ma and think you might enjoy that!
I do tend to pick out a lot of novellas… but you’re right I should branch out and try out different genres. Someone else suggested this too so I’m going to try it out and see if it helps.
ooooh, I heard such great things about Severance! I’ll add it to my list. Thanks for the suggestion! ♥
Whenever I find myself falling into a reading slump, I try to switch out genres! Since trying this strategy, I haven’t fallen into a reading slump in about 2 years. I think when you keep the material fresh, you’re less likely to feel…stuck in your reading. So I’ll read a romance, then a fantasy, then a memoir, thriller, literary fictions, and so on and so forth! Maybe try it out? Even if you didn’t read much, you still rated things pretty highly, which I think is the most important thing 🙂
Yeah, maybe I should try out more genres. I always feel like I know what type of books I like and don’t like but maybe I should give every genre a second chance? I’ll try that out and hope it helps rekindle that special spark for reading that I used to have. ♥